Xbox One UK Price Drops to £299

The company's site lists the new price for the console, with a cached version of the same page from last week showing it was previously £349.99.

Despite this, Microsoft is billing the change as a retailer-led price promotion rather than a price cut, with a spokesperson saying the following: "This is a UK-only retail promotion and offers great value for fans looking to buy an Xbox One ahead of the launch of 2015’s highly-anticipated games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Batman: Arkham Knight, along with Xbox exclusives such as Rise of the Tomb Raider, Forza Motorsport 6 and Halo 5: Guardians."

The assumption, then, is this is a temporary change that will be reversed at some stage, though it's not unheard of for the official price to be changed without an official announcement in order to prevent negative assumptions about how the product is performing.

Exit Theatre Mode

Originally launched in the UK for £429.99, the Xbox One was then reduced to £349.99 before a third price cut brought it down to £329.99. Sony's PlayStation 4, meanwhile, is holding fast at an official price of £349.99.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK News Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on Twitter.